Baba Ramdev back in Delhi, hits out at government

New Delhi: Returning to Delhi three weeks after he was bundled out from here, yoga guru Ramdev today attacked the government claiming that it has no will to fight corruption or create a Lokpal to check the menace.

Ramdev said he would continue his fight against corruption alongside “anybody from any party, any religion”. He said he was willing to fight the menace but he did not make it clear whether he would join Anna Hazare on August 16 when the latter relaunches his campaign for a strong Lokpal.

Holding that he was “not a mask” for BJP or RSS, he asked why the government was talking to him if they thought he was a criminal and insisted he doesn’t have a penny of black money.

“Government does not want to create a Lokpal,” he said addressing a press conference here after meeting Raj Bala, who was grievously injured in the June five pre-dawn police crackdown at Ramlila Maidan on his supporters, at a hospital and dared the government to “search” his institutions for black money and declare it as national asset.

“Sarkar pehle bhrashtachari thi, abh woh atyachari bhi ho gayi (The government was indulging in corruption earlier. Now it is indulging in atrocities),” he said, adding, “This government has no will to fight corruption.”

The yoga guru alleged that the government was muzzling voices of those who talk about black money or tell the truth.

Terming the crackdown in Ramlila Maidan as “murder of democracy”, he alleged it was aimed at eliminating him and that there were “attempts to rape women” by drunk men during the police action.

However, Ramdev did not throw any light on his next move as part of his anti-corruption campaign. He said he would launch a free housing scheme in Haridwar on July one followed by another programme on August four for empowering villages.

Ramdev reached the capital from Haridwar by road this afternoon and straight away headed to G B Pant Hospital in central Delhi to visit Raj Bala.

Police had erected barricades along the border to screen those entering the Capital and ensure that no untoward incident occurred during Ramdev’s visit to the city.

Earlier, police had said he was not allowed to enter the capital for 15 days but later retracted from it.